In a speech February 10 to Washington reporters, John Engler, president of the National Association of Manufacturers and former Michigan governor, called on the Bush Administration to increase pressure on China to cease its unfair trade practices, specifically product counterfeiting and currency manipulation.
"The U.S. can compete with anyone on a level playing field," Engler said. "But economists estimate the Chinese currency could be as much as 40 percent undervalued. That translates into a huge tariff on anything we try to sell there, and an equally large artificial price advantage for anything they sell here. Is it any wonder we have a $162 billion bilateral trade deficit with China, mostly in manufactured goods?"
Engler said NAM will make legal reform and the confirmation of judges priorities in 2005. "In 2002, we spent $246 billion on our tort system. That works out to $845 per person. Only 46 cents of every dollar actually gets to the plaintiffs. This represents a huge misallocation of national resources."
Reducing external costs on production in the U.S. remains the guiding principle of the NAM, Engler said. "The burdens of litigation, excessive taxes, regulation, energy, and healthcare add at least 22.4 percent to the hourly labor costs of U.S. manufacturers compared to our nine major trading partners. These are self-inflicted wounds that could be fatal if we don't establish a connection between public policies and their impact on manufacturing."
NAM’s other goals are to better prepare the 21st century workforce, and promote innovation, investment and productivity—key factors in America’s ability to compete.
The Aluminum Association’s board sub-committee on government and international relations has set as legislative goals for the new Congress to prioritize and promote national energy, trade, and environmental policies that advantage the U.S. aluminum manufacturing industry. Also on the target list are tort reform, healthcare, and workforce training issues that impact the industry. The process adopted by the committee is to primarily work through and support broader coalitions with similar goals.
Affordable domestic energy is essential to U.S. long-term growth prospects, and electricity and natural gas supply is crucial for the long-term growth and stability of the aluminum industry’s domestic production. All supply options should be considered to contribute to a robust energy supply. Energy represents one-third of the production cost of primary aluminum, and electricity is essential to primary aluminum production. These factors make energy efficiency and management prime objectives for the industry.
On trade, the Association is committed to a fair, open world aluminum market. International trade is vital to the health of the aluminum industry. The Association supports initiation of global trade negotiations in the World Trade Organization, as well as a comprehensive approach to the phased-in reduction and elimination of tariffs over a multi-year period—not to exceed 10 years. All aluminum producing, importing, and exporting countries should participate in the Doha Round. No country should be made to reduce or eliminate its tariffs unilaterally.
The aluminum industry is a leader in environmental stewardship. Since the industry voluntarily reduced process greenhouse gas emissions, it supports policies and programs that credit early actions taken to reduce greenhouse gases since 1990. The industry supports efficient, economically sound emissions trading programs and registries that recognize early emissions reductions.
The industry supports and participates in public/private partnerships to spur pre-competitive research to reduce greenhouse gas process emissions and promote energy-saving aluminum product applications. It supports a responsible approach to growth in demand for its products and the consequent growth in activity and related emissions, noting that climate change solutions involve reducing emissions at source and also over the full life-cycle of the material or products.
For more information about NAM membership or involvement, see www.nam.org. For aluminum manufacturing concerns that we promote, call or e-mail Robin King or Steve Larkin at The Aluminum Association, or visit www.aluminum.org.
